Lyrics: https://www.paroles-musique.com/eng/Murder_By_Death-Brother-lyrics,p02831615

Fourteen years have passed since that day
Your stories are the same but the ends have all changed
You carried on like you were some type of god
Some things will never change

We went home to see our folks
We laughed and we told jokes
It was like we were young again
On that deathbed our mother lay
How long she’s got they still can’t say
It took all this to get us back together again

How long is this going to last
You can’t keep reliving your past
Screwing over the ones that you love
In the name of some new drug

So brother, raise another pint
Rev up the engine and drive off in the night
See you somewhere some place some time
I know there’s better brothers but you’re the only one that’s mine x 2

The bondsman came to my door early the next day
He said “I come lookin’ for you brother
You don’t know what kind of trouble that he’s in”

How long is this going to last
You can’t keep reliving your past
Johnny law keeps a poundin’ at my door
'Cause you screwed up some new score

So he’s standing in the doorway like he owns the place
With a look of smug satisfaction on his face
I’m gonna give you up
Of that he’s sure as hell
But I take one look at him and I know I’ll never tell

So brother, raise another pint
Rev up the engine and drive off in the night
See you somewhere some place some time
I know there’s better brother’s but you’re the only one that’s mine

So brother, raise another pint
Rev up the engine and drive off in the night
I still look out for you no matter what you heard.
They can knock all of my doors down but I won’t say a word x 2

Fourteen years have passed since that day and still nothing has changed.

  • tetris11OPMEnglish
    1·
    8 months ago

    This song contains references to:

    1. pint x 3 (1742)
    2. Bondsman or Ombudsman (1754 or 1959)
      • A bondsman holds someone to their debt, in use since 1754
      • An Ombudsman is the government title for the above, in use since 1959.
    3. Screwing over (1900)
      • To screw in the sense of to cheat someone has been in use since 1900.
    4. Rev up the engine x 3 (1916)
      • Rev as in to revolve an internal combustion engine since 1916
    5. Johnny law (1670)
      • A Johnny has been used as a contemptous or humerous placeholder for a man since the 1670s.
    6. drug (1900s or 1500s)
      • Surprisingly drug has been used in a negative context since the 1500s, but the meaning of ‘opiates and narcotics’ since early 1900s.
    7. score (1951)
      • The word score, in the sense of the “act of obtaining narcotic drugs” is from 1951.

    Quick Assessment

    That’s a minimum of 1951 for someone to understand all references, and 1754 for someone to understand 4/7 references used. Not bad!

    Modifications

    • Rev up the engine and drive off in the night conveys the idea of stealing away loudly into the night, which could be done by reining up a horse and galloping away, or loudly exiting a house and running to the hills. I think a singer could modify this line to the time appropriate version of this, though they might have to change the pint in the previous line to make it rhyme.
    • Both score and drug could be switched to ploy has been around since 1722, or sham which has been around since the 1670s, though the rhyme with the love in the previous line would be awkward. I think the main idea is that they are some scheme or gimmick, and that the drug angle in the song is only used to show how the brother is unreliable or impulsive. Ploy and Sham have more scheming connotations than impulsive ones, so the singer would need to find a word that could capture the right sentiment.

    Verdict

    A very timeless song if you can switch out the motorbike and drug imagery, which you might hear played around the 1700s.